>> Continued From the Previous Page <<
Under President Joe Biden, New York City has faced a massive surge in illegal immigration — with tens of thousands arriving from the southern border and overwhelming the city’s shelters. Former President Donald Trump repeatedly blasted New York’s sanctuary city policies, accusing officials of harboring criminals and obstructing federal law enforcement.
Before Election Day, Trump’s former immigration czar, Tom Homan, had vowed to ramp up operations in the Big Apple. “We’re going to be in New York City, and as President Trump said, we’re going to double down and triple down on sanctuary cities,” Homan warned in October. “We know they are releasing public safety threats and national security threats to the streets every day because they don’t honor our detainers.”
While cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston have already seen sweeping ICE operations, New York has taken a more restrained approach in recent years. That could soon change.
Over the summer, Mamdani went so far as to label ICE “a rogue agency” and vowed to prevent agents from making removals within city limits. His statements echo the rhetoric of other far-left city leaders who have pledged to shield illegal immigrants — even those with criminal backgrounds — from deportation.
But legal experts and former federal officials say Mamdani’s threats carry little weight. “You’re not going to stop the federal government from doing what they’re charged with doing,” former ICE agent Scott Mechkowski told Newsweek.
Federal law makes clear that local officials cannot block federal agents from carrying out lawful operations, though sanctuary cities can restrict local police from cooperating. That ongoing tug-of-war between local Democrats and the Department of Homeland Security has sparked repeated battles over federal funding.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently blasted sanctuary politicians for putting Americans in danger. “As it does every day, DHS will enforce the law including in New York City. When sanctuary politicians ignore ICE detainers, they are protecting criminal illegal aliens at the expense of American citizens,” she said.
McLaughlin didn’t mince words about the stakes. “ICE is arresting and removing barbaric criminals with prior convictions for rape, murder, drug trafficking, and instead of holding them for ICE, sanctuary politicians release them back into your communities,” she added. “These reckless policies have deadly consequences.”
Under current Mayor Eric Adams, New York City maintained a limited cooperation policy — working with ICE to remove violent offenders while shielding non-criminal immigrants. But Mamdani has made it clear he plans to go much further, aligning himself with Chicago and Boston’s hardline sanctuary mayors.
With Mamdani preparing to take office, tensions between his incoming administration and federal law enforcement are already boiling over. The question now is whether his radical agenda will make New York safer — or leave its citizens more vulnerable than ever.
